Top 100 List Marks Halfway Point In U.S. Cellular's Calling All Communities Campaign

Only Three Weeks Left to Vote for Schools in $1 Million Contest

CHICAGO, Oct. 2, 2012 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Today marks the halfway point for voting in U.S. Cellular's (NYSE:USM) Calling All Communities campaign, and the carrier has announced the list of the Top 100 schools receiving votes. Almost three weeks remain to rally community support and add to the 33,579 votes that have been cast so far to win a share of $1 million in the company's fourth annual campaign to support education. With more than 16,000 votes cast in the last week, there's plenty of time to rally votes to make a difference for your school.

"It's been great to see the excitement and community support throughout the first half of the Calling All Communities campaign," said Carter Elenz, executive vice president of sales and customer service for U.S. Cellular. "There was a great deal of movement on the Top 100 list in the first few weeks and there's plenty of time left for schools to rally their community in the final half of the campaign. We're excited to help our communities gather together to support education and we look forward to contributing to many of our local communities' schools."

The top 18 schools that receive the most votes will win a share of $1 million to spend any way they see fit. The school that garners the most votes will receive $150,000, and the next 17 schools will each receive $50,000. The voting period ends Oct. 21.

As of Oct. 2, the Top 100 schools lead a total of 881 schools throughout the country that have received votes. This week there are three new schools in the Top 20 and 13 new schools in the Top 100. In just one week, St. Michael School in Orland Park, Ill., jumped 34 spots into 16th place, Big Pasture Elementary in Randlett, Okla., moved up 22 spots to 13th place and St. Gerard Majella School in St. Louis, Mo., made a massive jump up 45 places to 51st place.